MY favorite john paul jones bass

[bon viesta]

you know the jazz one, you know that crazy alembic, but where is the love for the 53 p bass? that thing is an absolute beauty. i’ve heard the story about it where a guy backstage sold him the bass, but it was in a solid purple painted state (including the fretboard) and he had to go to the workbench to scrape all the paint off and he used it on the road for a few years.

if anyone has any extra pictures of this beast that i don’t already have (those few down there are it pretty much save for a few) they would be appreciated!!

 

[cyberhawk]

This one is from 1975.

 

[2saddleslab]

My fav JPJ bass as well [bet your surprised].

This is the most info [and pics] I've seen about it. Hope more can contribute to this thread.

 

[Biggbass]

coolest bass of all....and he used a pick !

 

[Bent77]

Never knew it was purple at one point!

 

[JimmyThunder]

my favorite JPJ bass is the left half of his Mellotron

I can play a passable The Lemon Song, I can play Dazed and Confused, but I sure can't play No Quarter

 

[bon viesta]

i find it weird most of the pics with the p bass show him using a pick meanwhile most pics with the jazz bass show fingers. maybe he’s just trying to revive the jazz bass treble attack on a p bass by using a pick?

 

[bon viesta]

and also here’s where that story came from this dude is from a very well known led zeppelin tribute band, so i trust his information. i know how gear-centric led zeppelin tribute members are. there are certainly devoted bonhamites (terry keating on youtube) that foam at the mouth at the prospect of gear.

 

[cyberhawk]

I found another:

 

[bon viesta]

I found another:

View attachment 4097955

found that one this afternoon!

 

[bon viesta]

if you look at live footage, he seems to switch from the jazz bass to the p bass usually after moby dick, or vice versa with the p bass. you see him on it for one half of the show and then after that he’s on another one.

 

[cyberhawk]

So you have links to zees shows?

 

[LUCE]

I recall hearing that this was the "Black Dog" bass -- true?

 

[bon viesta]

sydney 1972

also... sydney 1972

in the second video, the p bass is played towards the beginning, while the jazz comes out later. in the first one, it’s jazz bass all the way through until after moby dick.

 

[bon viesta]

although, rock and roll was a late show performance, so it seems he always brought it out in the later portions of shows.

 

[cyberhawk]

Very cool. Thanks!

 

[Tecate]

I’m in love with this bass!

 

[MAJOR METAL]

It looks good on him.

 

[Gunga Din]

I recall hearing that this was the "Black Dog" bass -- true?

I thought that was done on the Hagstrom 8-string?

 

[PhR75]

I thought that was done on the Hagstrom 8-string?

No, it's the P-bass. Other studiotracks featuring the old single coil Precision (my favourite JPJ bass as well) as far as I think:
The Immigrant Song
Out On The Tiles
Four Sticks (features the Jazz too)
The Ocean
Houses Of The Holy
Walter's Walk

I love the metallic sound he got with that bass. The Acoustic 361 cab also played a big part of that sound. They definitely mic'ed that cab in the studio, "Out On The Tiles" is a good example of that sound (I think there's two signals with DI providing the bottom and 361 the raunchy dirty clank).